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High five to #ThisGirlCan campaign

22nd January 2015

Good PR

#ThisGirlCan Sweeps Nation

This was an easy choice for me this week, after seeing a campaign that seems to be getting mentioned here, there and everywhere. Sport England’s #ThisGirlCan campaign is now in full swing, encouraging women to lose their inhibitions and embrace exercise in all its sweaty, magnificent glory.

The £10-million advertising campaign was launched by the government agency last week and many of you may have already seen the adverts on TV. In a 90-second film, women of all shapes and sizes are shown working out; but not just going on a gentle jog or a brisk walk. These ladies are properly going for it, pushing themselves to their limits whilst dancing, swimming, running, spinning and such like. Phrases flash up on the screen, like “I swim because I love my body, not because I hate it” and “hot and not bothered“.

It’s really empowering. Us girls know that no woman can have a truly effective workout and finish up with her hair still perfectly in place and her makeup looking the same as when she first started. Many are still put off the idea of going to the gym though and can feel too self-conscious to be able to stop caring what other people think of them.

Two million fewer women than men exercise regularly according to Sport England’s research (despite the majority of women saying they want to work out more). That’ll be the reason for this campaign, then.

It is refreshing to see a video of real women working out, not just fitness models and women that make others doubt how they’ll ever get as sculpted as they are. This hashtag #ThisGirlCan will also, I think, be instrumental to the success of the campaign. Women shouting about their fitness achievements on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, no matter how big or small, are surely going to make use of the hashtag and it gives a real sense of a can-do attitude.

Nice work Sport England! You can watch the video, which has had more than 2 million views, here...

Bad PR

Filth Class

A TV presenter who splashed out £9,000 for a holiday to St Lucia and flew first class with British Airways was left disappointed by the standards on the flight and took to Twitter to let everyone know.

He claimed to discover very dirty conditions in first class and the video footage he’d taken and shared on Twitter seemed to be pretty good evidence that he wasn’t fibbing.

His video, which he’d called “British Airways first call – filth Class“, shows the seating area covered in dust and dirt, with TV presenter Owen Thomas commenting on how “disgusting” the conditions were.

This isn’t ideal for British Airways and the standards shown in the video wouldn’t have even been acceptable in economy class, let alone First Class for which people pay so much more for the luxury; which seemed somewhat compromised on this particular flight.

A BA spokesperson said that the customer had been contacted and apologised to and that BA was sorry the company had fallen short of its usual high standards. The coverage of this story is already everywhere though, so the apology won’t help much.

Offensive kids’ TV

In other news, a story on the Mail has uncovered the most complained about children’s TV programmes from the past decade, with Tom and Jerry taking the unfortunate lead with 82 complaints. Objections surrounded episodes which seemed to glamorise smoking, cigars and cigarettes.

However, the majority of the complaints weren’t regarding the cartoon itself, but were in protest of Ofcom’s decision to investigate the popular show. So, perhaps it’s not too fair that this took the number one spot!

Other TV shows that made it onto the list, since 2004, (from Ofcom’s figures) were Get Well Soon (65 complaints), Tweenies (21 complaints) and Blue Peter (14 complaints).

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